Monday, December 31, 2012

Many people monitor the traffic to their site/blog. I wasn't that savvy about it when I started my site/blog. Found out about Google Analytics around May 2008. Prior to that, I used Sitemeter, which doesn't seem to be as powerful as Google Analytics.

At the end of year, these vigilant siteowners/bloggers would post stats of the traffic to their site. Starting this year, I will be on top of this for whatever that's worth. I'm not looking to sell anything, win site awards, etc. But perhaps, some of the readers/visitors of my site/blog would be interested.

Below is a chart of the All-Time Amount of Visitors Monthly. Although the chart doesn't give stats out for years 2009 and 2011 which is my fault for not monitoring this and for that you have my sincerest apologies.

Stickgrappler's Sojourn site traffic May 2008 - Dec 2012

After the jump, you can read more of the various breakdowns (including Most Popular Posts) and my thoughts on the Traffic.

Years ago when I was vacationing at a friend's house, I was watching martial arts
VHS tapes I had recently purchased. I had all kinds of arts on tape:
Capoeira, Jujitsu, Kali, etc. My friend's father, who was a Korean
martial artist, watched along with me for a while, and then said, "You
know, all these arts are good. But if your expression is diluted in one
because you're chasing the others, then all of them, and you, will be
no good." From then on I decided to stick with just Kali.

Forward to the present: I teach Kali at the park on weekends for free. I have a facebook page and a craigslist ad.
This has led to many interesting encounters, such as people who show up
once or twice, and then never come back, people who want to meet me
with no intention of training at all but want to recruit me as a
building block for a pyramid marketing scheme, and those who want to
learn "in order to add some stuff to what I already know". People who
"hop" from instructor to instructor, from place to place, grabbing what
seems "cool", and then traipsing off to the next training venue. I call
these people "collectors".

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that one art, system, style or instructor has all the solutions. Far from it. Bruce Lee
made a LOT of people angry when he said that no range of combat was
superior to any other, and that skills in weapons, kicking, punching,
trapping and grappling were necessary to be successful. The problem
arises when individuals believe that they can forge a good foundation by
taking a little bit from column A, adding a dash from column B,
sprinkle a little from column C, and then call what they have a working
knowledge base of self defense.

I was listening to the radio while driving one day and happened
across a survey where the DJ was asking callers to share what made them
angry. A woman answered and related how lack of manners were her pet
peeve. She then went on to tell a story about an encounter with a local
lout in a parking lot.
Apparently, she was returning to her vehicle, with her children in
tow. She opened the car door and accidentally made contact with the
vehicle in the space next to her. According to the caller, there was no
damage to the vehicle. The man came out and became verbally
belligerent. She said she apologized, but the man continued to berate
her, asking her how would she feel if someone banged her vehicle by
careless opening of a car door. At this point she became defensive and
said that it wouldn't be much of a problem, as she drove a (insert
derogatory name for less than aesthetically pleasing vehicle). She
wound the energy up further, scolding him for being so verbally abusive
in front of her children. It all ended with no physical contact, save
for the supposed "tap" on the man's car, and both parties went about the
rest of their day.

Some might say that she was in the right. She apologized, but the
man wouldn't accept it and kept going down his mouthy route. How dare
this man launch verbal attacks on her in front of her children.
Civilized people accept apologies, why couldn't this man do the same?

In my opinion, there are no such things as rights. If you find this
hard to believe, please look up a place called Pyongyang, or better yet,
Libya. We all have our own little worlds organized and packaged to fit
our perceptions. We have to, otherwise we wouldn't get anything done.
However, a lot of us have the tendency to clutch too tightly to our
parceled ways, so much that we don't realize that there are other
people, with other ways, some of which are very different from our own.
To assume that the world will conform to our ways is, well, rather
foolish.

To clarify, this is not an article on how to use your mobile phone
as an improvised weapon (although it is entirely possible). No, we
will be discussing the use of mobile phones in everyday life and how
they impact our ability to protect ourselves.

Mobile phones are great. At the turn of the millennium, perhaps even
a few years before that, people were dumping landlines in favor of the
mobile phone. And why not? Convenience is the mantra of the modern
consumer. And what is more convenient than these pieces of plastic,
metal wafers and microprocessors? It's easier to keep in touch with
family, with friends, with bosses, co-workers. In the span of a few
seconds, we can glimpse at our favorite social network, read breaking
news, check the weather, and pay a bill.

It also takes a few seconds for a potential predator to see that you are completely and utterly oblivious to your surroundings.

Try walking down a busy street while writing a comment about this
article, and see how many people you bump into, or how many obstacles
such as a street lamp post or fire hydrant seem to magically materialize
and get in your way.

I am somewhat of a martial arts/action movies buff. Many fans always compare their Top Ten list of All-Time Favorite Martial Arts Movies or Action Scenes. I, to date, cannot be pegged into a Top Ten of my favorites.So I 'cheat' and come up with a few lists broken out into various categories. I guess one day I will have my Top Ten list, but until then, check out mine. Do you agree? Disagree? What is your Top Ten?

3)Shaolin vs Ninja aka Heroes of the East- Gordon Liu (Master Killer) marries a Japanese woman... inadvertently his comments to his wife about the Japanese MA is misinterpretted as a diss by her martial brothers and sensei... the sensei sends 7 of his students... all experts in various arts to challenge Liu - judo, single nunchuku & single sai vs butterfly swords; japanese spear vs red-tassled spear; etc

4)Invincible Leg Fighters- Dorian Tan shows why he should be in consideration as one of the best kickers of the oldschool generation (My friend says he was very good inThe Hot, The Cold, and the Vicious-- I haven't had a chance to watch yet)

5)5 Masters of Death aka 5 Masters of Shaolin- the first kung fu movie I can remember seeing... i was ~10 yrs old; all star cast -- all from director Chang Cheh's stable of actors/godsons -- a who's who of oldschool superstars: David Chiang, Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, etc

1)Flashpoint- more action movie than pure martial arts movie, but Donnie Yen vs Calvin Chou is the wet-dream of any MMA/BJJ fan

2)Ip Man 1 & 2- Donnie again... these 2 movies may be a thin veil of the Chinese Nationalism... both movies follow the same structure... Ip Man is challenged by the rest of the CMA community, he beats them... foreigner comes in and kills one of the Chinese MA community who was a friend of Ip's... he fights the foreigner and wins ... think it was a little unrealistic for him to take on 10 karatekas in #1 -- but overall, love Donnie's acting... he doesn't play his usual cocky self (which is closer to real life for him)... he plays a subdued/reserved man. The tabletop fight vs Sammo in #2 is way over-the-top but so enjoyable!

3)Legend of the Fist - Return of Chen Zhen- no surprise, Donnie yet again... may have been a statement to Hollywood casting Taiwanese pop idol Jay Chou as Kato lol... great visuals/sets a la Tim Burton's Batman... the opening fight vs the German soldiers had me so hyped, I couldn't sleep that night! watched it over and over! the adrenaline and testorene overflowed! overall uneven movie for me, but Shu Qi/Hsu Chi's acting as well as Donnie's was good. The fights and visuals helped make this movie for me to be a favorite - it could've been better

4)14 Blades- ok my last Donnie for now lol - Donnie in a period piece, plays Green Dragon, the best of the Emperor's secret police... takes on a powerful eunuch ... look for oldschool Chen Kuan-tai in a cameo fight; plot is a little confusing, but scenery is beautiful and the fights entertaining... love rottie Kate Tsui with her whip/veils style

6)Tom Yum Goong aka The Protector- Tony Jaa again. towards the end, probably homage to Bruce Lee's Game of Death, filmed in one long take, he is in a restaurant and fights his way to the upper floors; one of my fave scenes ever, Jaa breaks the arms and legs of 53 goons if memory serves (yes I'm a martial arts movies geek, i sat there and counted! lol at me)

7)Yamada - The Samurai of Ayothaya-- Buakaw has a part in this... based on Historical figure, samurai stranded in Thailand, comes to adopt Thailand as his homeland and helps defend it from attacks -- if you loved the Thai bareknuckle action in Tony Jaa'sOng Bak, check this one out!8)The Raid: Redemption- Iko Uwais in an almost pure 90 mins non-stop adrenaline ride! one fave scene is his use of thePR-24 baton paired with a folding knife against ~10 bad guys.

9)The Man From NowhereakaThis Man- in the bonus features of the dvd, the making of part... it's mentioned the powers that be behind this movie wanted to show something different to the Korean audiences and they went with the Filipino martial arts... my fave art... fight scenes were short and ballistic... last fight scene had the star fight off like 10 guys with a gun and later a knife... the knife fights is one of the best in recent memory... when i watched this movie, the testosterone/adrenaline overflowed...couldn't sleep afterwards (i watch these 'violent' movies when the wife and kids are asleep)

10)City of Violence- Korean movie, 2 buddies take on the rest of the Korean mafia that is out to kill them... parts of it is homage to the cult classicThe Warriors

loads more...

Will be watching sooner or later:

Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins- period pieceWar of the Arrow- period piece

I really have to come up with my Top Ten list lol ... what are some of your favorite martial arts movies?

According to the Random House Dictionary, the definition of self-defense is:

The act of defending one's person when physically attacked, as by
countering blows or overcoming an assailant: the art of self-defense.

A claim or plea that the use of force or injuring or killing
another was necessary in defending one's own person from physical
attack: He shot the man who was trying to stab him and pleaded self-defense at the murder trial.

An act or instance of defending or protecting one's own interests, property, ideas, etc., as by argument or strategy.

The first definition might be the most popular one that comes to
mind. The second might be brought up during a discussion of legal
issues. The third is an interesting one, which I suspect is one that
does not enter into most people's minds. While all three are correct
and have their place and time, what concerns us right now is the
question of how we protect ourselves against negative elements bent on
our depletion of life, health, or resources. In other words, what is
our goal concerning self-defense?

It is taking responsibility to ensure that we continue to live happy, healthy lives.

But, wait, I thought we were going to learn some kick butt --
take-no-prisoners moves that I could perform on the local alcoholic
strongman! Sorry to disappoint, but “kicking butt” is merely a small
part of a total self-defense strategy. Think about it. In the grand
scheme of things, looking at the big picture, isn't the end goal of
truly successful self-defense the simple act of going about our daily
lives in walking through the door and coming home to our family and
friends, smiling and retaining all our bodily functions?

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Bob Arum, one of boxing's most powerful promoters recently turned 81. He was profiled by Sports Illustrated. Check out Arum's recounting of one of the earliest MMA fights: Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki...

Picture from http://www.fanbase.com/photo/355211

In 1976, Herbert Muhammad approached Arum with an offer: A group of
Japanese businessmen were willing to pay Ali $6 million to fight Antonio
Inoki, a legendary wrestler who had dabbled in mixed martial arts, in
Tokyo. At first Arum was reluctant: Ali was already planning to defend
his heavyweight title against Ken Norton later in the year. But $6
million was $6 million, so Arum called Vince McMahon Sr., who offered to
script the fight.

"The way Vince wrote it, Ali was
supposed to come out and look like he was hitting Inoki with punches,"
says Arum. "Now wrestlers, they use razors to cut themselves. So Inoki
was supposed to cut himself, and blood would be everywhere. Then Ali
would turn to the ref and say, 'Hey, please stop the fight. Then Inoki
would jump on Ali's back and pin him. Ali would get up and say this was
just like Pearl Harbor, then we'd all go home. So Ali leaves for Japan.
When he gets there he meets with Ron Holmes, the American liaison for
Inoki. And Holmes thought everything was legitimate!""So I fly over there and me, Ferdie [Pacheco, Ali's doctor], Angelo
[Dundee, his trainer] and Herbert meet with these Japanese promoters. I
said, 'Hey, we have to figure out how to do this thing.' After about 20
minutes of negotiating the ground rules, these Japanese guys started
getting pissed off. They started making all these threats about how
Inoki was going to break Ali's leg, how Ali was not going to fight
Norton. Then they wanted us to sign a piece of paper saying it was
winner take all. When we left the room we had no f------ idea how this
fight was going to go. But we had to do the fight. We had sold tickets
to the closed circuit at Shea Stadium, with an undercard between Chuck
Wepner and Andre the Giant. There was a lot of money on the line.

"So
the bell rings, and in the first round, Inoki comes out and flops on
his ass and starts kicking his legs out. I'm thinking, OK, this is
interesting. Maybe he's playing possum. Second round, same s---. By the
fourth round Ali is yelling, 'You bastard, get up and fight.' But Inoki,
he's kicking Ali's legs and they start bleeding. Finally Inoki gets up,
and Ali swings and misses him by a foot. But Inoki, he staggers back
into the ropes like he just got shot. After 15 rounds the referee calls
it a draw. Ali's legs got infected, and we almost had to call off the
Norton fight."

Friday, December 14, 2012

From time to time, people have always had fantasy matchups between fighters from different eras or even athletes from different sports taking on a fighter. Have you ever wondered how it would go down if there was really a fight between the Greatest Athlete vs the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time)? More after the jump:

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Anyway, 12/21/12 is nearing... I'm sure you all of heard of the Mayan Calendar "ending" and it's the End of the World/Armageddon. How much you want to bet everyone will be playing REM's It's the End of the World As We Know It? I know I will LOL

There's a new TV show this season on the CW Network and airs on Wednesdays at 8pm called "Arrow." There's some decent fight scenes, but sometimes the fight scenes have shaky camerawork plus extreme closeups which obscure the fights. I made 2 animated GIF's of 2 takedowns which looked cool from Episode 5.

A brief description and then after the jump, check out the GIF's I made for your enjoyment!

After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen
was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered
alive on a remote island in the Pacific. When he returns home to
Starling City, his devoted mother Moira, much-beloved sister Thea, and
best friend Tommy welcome him home, but they sense Oliver has been
changed by his ordeal on the island. While Oliver hides the truth about
the man he's become, he desperately wants to make amends for the
actions he took as the boy he was. Most particularly, he seeks
reconciliation with his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance. As Oliver
reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of
Arrow - a vigilante – to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills
of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory. By day,
Oliver plays the role of a wealthy, carefree and careless philanderer he
used to be - flanked by his devoted chauffeur/bodyguard, John Diggle -
while carefully concealing the secret identity he turns to under cover
of darkness. However, Laurel's father, Detective Quentin Lance, is
determined to arrest the vigilante operating in his city. Meanwhile,
Oliver's own mother, Moira, knows much more about the deadly shipwreck
than she has let on – and is more ruthless than he could ever imagine.

There was buzz all over the Net wondering if that was real as the ad was almost a Flawless Execution (forgive my geekiness - some of you should know that reference LOL). I didn't believe it was real from seeing the way the ball bounced. It was not natural in some shots. Anyway, I found a site with further info - select copy and paste from Agency Asia:

Agency.Asia: Your work for Nokia is
simply brilliant. The idea of Bruce Lee playing ping-pong with nunchaku
["nunchukkas"] is so fantastically comprehensible, yet so incredibly
obscure.

Every other creative in the world is kicking himself
or herself that they didn’t think of it first. That’s the sign of a
good idea. How in heaven’s name did you sell an idea that features
absolutely no footage of a telephone to a huge multinational client?
That is a masterstroke.

Polly Chu: Effective viral relies
on an idea that is ‘very’ - very amazing, very funny, very disgusting,
or very rude etc. Only when people find it interesting enough, they will
spend time with it and share it to others. That makes it ‘viral’.

Bruce Lee had ‘very’ amazing skills and we knew we
had to be true to the legend. Thankfully, we also have a ‘very’
open-minded client who champions and knows the value of great creative.

Monday, December 03, 2012

Something happened to me recently that I wanted to share with the readers of my site/blog.

Superstorm Sandy NYC Scammer Alert

WHO:Me and a dude.WHAT:Dude asking for directions initially.WHERE:45th Street and Lexington Ave, Manhattan, NYC.WHEN:November 9th, 2012; 12pm.WHY:I step out to pick up lunch.

I was stopped by a Caucasian male in his mid-30’s to mid-40’, about 5’ 8”, wearing glasses, blond hair and some facial hair, and slightly cross-eyed. He had a backpack, and a headlamp! Given Superstorm Sandy hit NYC/NJ hard, people have all kinds of flashlights. I felt it odd he had one on though, given he was out on the street in broad daylight.

Him: “Excuse me. Do you know this area?”

Me: “Yes.” He looked lost, and I thought he needed directions. My mistake = I already pegged him as ‘Lost’ and the Good Samaritan in me was ready to help.

Me: I interrupt him and said, “Oh, the U.N. That’s behind you -- that way.” I’m pointing behind him.

Him: *exasperated look* “I know. They told me to go to the Port Authority to take a bus.” He then starts fast-talking and slight mumbling and avoids eye contact and looks around and mostly looks down. I don't understand a word he's saying.

Me: “Excuse me, say again please.”

Him: “They told me to go to the Port Authority to take a bus…”

Me: “Oh, the Port Authority is a few blocks that way.” I pointed in the opposite direction of the U.N.

Him: “I know that. I was looking for help and specifically looking for a Man to ask. Women wouldn’t help me.”

Me: “What do you need?”

Him: “I’m a little short and need to borrow some money. What’s your name and address? When I get home I’ll send you a check. I promise.”

Me: “I was going to the bank. I have nothing.”

Him: *looking helpless* “I really got to get home. I need money.”

Me: I proceeded to get out of Dodge fast, checking to see if he was going to follow me to the bank.I walked away from my bank and when I didn't see him anymore, I doubled back towards my back, continually scanning around me for any sign of him.

I didn’t lie, I really didn’t have enough cash for lunch. However, even if I had it, I felt he was a scammer. I had some kind of gut feeling already.

He was giving me “Too Many Details” by starting off about meeting his wife at the U.N. and but then told he by “someone” that he needed to go to the Port Authority to take a bus.

He tried to either “Forced Team” or “Typecast” me with the “…looking for a Man…”.

He even threw in an “Unsolicited Promise” by promising me he would send me a check when I didn’t ask him to promise me.

Additionally, he was trying to “Discount the Word ‘No’” by looking helpless by making Eye Contact and continuing to ask me for money despite me telling him I didn’t have money. He avoided Eye Contact after the initial attention-getter “Excuse me.”

He didn’t follow me. I truly felt I was being scammed especially when he mumbled and talked fast. What gets me is that this scammer played off of the Superstorm Sandy aftermath. Really sucks he did that because a coworker lost his basement and car. My boss’s buddy had no power over a week and when it finally comes back on, there’s a surge and his house was burnt down and he’s homeless now.

As I went to the Bank and picked up lunch, I replayed the encounter a few times and started “seeing” the signals. Got back to the office and typed this up as it was still fresh in my head.

My scammer was "textbook" - Gavin de Becker - The Gift of Fear!!! If you've not read this book, check it out. It may help you spot the Pre-Incident Indicators like the ones I mentioned above.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Today's set of animated GIF's from Enter the Dragon features Bruce Lee and his kicks. This is the last set in commemorating Bruce Lee's 72nd birthday. In the near future, I will be making a few more GIF's from this movie, as well as his other movies.

Site Under Construction

Slowly but surely I've implemented changes to the site's look and functionality. I'm sure you have noticed the changes.Ecstatic that I've finally been able to successfully update my site closer more in line with my vision of it.

Not sure if it will be the final look of the site or not, but the Sojourn of Septillion Steps with respect to the site's look has already taken quite a few steps beyond the first!

I will still be endeavoring to put up information I think will benefit your martial arts training as well as your self-defense. I sincerely thank you for visiting/reading!